Deal on Ireland’s $115b bailout could come today
DUBLIN (AP) – An Irish government minister said Saturday he expects an agreement within the next 24 hours on an EU-IMF bailout loan for Ireland worth approximately $115 billion, but he rejected reports that the aid could come with a punitively high interest rate. Communications Minister Eamon Ryan said all sides in the 10-day-old financial rescue talks in Dublin want at least “an outline agreement” before markets open Monday. Ireland has been priced out of bond markets and needs a loan to fund its annual deficits and its cash-strapped banks. But many analysts doubt that the country will be able to afford the repayments on an international bailout unless the interest rates are low. European Union diplomats confirmed that the finance ministers of the 16-nation eurozone, which includes Ireland, would discuss the emerging EU-IMF loan for the Irish at a hastily arranged meeting in Brussels on Sunday. EU spokesman Bernard Bulcke said finance ministers from the 11 other EU members – including Britain, Denmark and Sweden, which have pledged their own bilateral loans to Dublin – would join the Brussels meeting later Sunday in a sign that a more comprehensive negotiated deal could be on the table. Speaking to Irish state broadcasters RTE, Ryan rejected reports carried by RTE and Dublin newspapers that at least part of the bailout would come with an interest rate of 6.7 percent. “I think that figure was inaccurate. And it was unfortunate because it did scare a hell of a lot of people,” Ryan said. He declined to speculate what the average interest rate would be, but said it would be nearer the 5.2 percent average being paid by Greece for its $150 billion EU-IMF bailout in May. Ryan said whatever terms were agreed “have to make sense for us, so that we’re able to pay it back.” A second government minister, Noel Dempsey, sounded less confident of any announcement Sunday. “Our mandate is to get the very best deal, one that will allow us to get out of the present situation,” said Dempsey, the transport minister. “It’s more important to get it right than to get it quick.
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